Francis Howgill of Grayrigg : a sufferer for the truth

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FRIENDS ANCIENT AND MODERN

No. 7

FRANCIS HOWGILL

OF GRAYRIGG
31 £uftor for tbr fetfr

BY

ERNEST E. TAYLOR

Author of Cameos from the Life of George Fox ;
Magdalen Duckett ; &c.

SECOND (REVISED) EDITION

GEORGE Fox's TESTIMONY CONCERNING FRANCIS HOWGILL :

" . . Great sufferings, and trials, and reproaches, and scorns, and
hard labours in the work and service of the Lord he went through, and
many vain disputers, Priests and Professors of all sects, rose up
aeainst him, but the Lord in His power gave him dominion over them
all."

fhtblisljeu for ibe jFrienDs' (Trart Association

London : New York :

HEADLEY BROTHERS FRIENDS' BOOK & TRACT COMMITTEE

140 Bishopsgate, E.G. 144 East Twentieth Street

1912

Stack
Annex

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

Howgill born
George Fox born

Edward Burrough born

Firbank Fell Meeting : How-
gill's first imprisonment

Howgill's visic to London and
Bristol

Howgill's visit to Ireland

Howgill published The Inheri-
tance of Jacob Discovered

i.ooo Friends imprisoned in
Great Britain

Death of Edward Burrough
4,200 Friends in Prison
Howgill taken prisoner at

Kendal
Howgill convicted

Howgill died

Howgill's Works published

1618
1624
1628
1634
1641
1642
1645

1649

Petition of Right

Strafford's execution
Beginning of Civil War
Laud beheaded
Common Prayer Book

abolished

Directory of Public Worship
Execution of Charles I.

1652

1653 Cromwell made Protector

1654
1655

1655-6

1656

1657 Fifth Monarchy Plot

1658 Cromwell died

1660 Charles II.

1 66 1 Act of Uniformity
1662

1663
1664
1665
1667
1668
1670
1676

Conventicle Act
Five Mile Act
Paradise Lost published

Pilgrim's Progress written

FRANCIS HOWGILL

IN that remarkable missionary movement which dis-
tinguished the early days of Quakerism, the chief
share was taken by sixty men, of whom probably
twenty-five had their homes among the Westmorland
fells. Of these sowers of seed destined to bring
forth goodly fruit, Francis Howgill was one of the most
earnest and able. He was not born to great possessions,
nor did he inherit great matters in this world. He was
bred up at Todthorne, near Grayrigg, and to this simple
home in due time he brought his wife, and in it reared
his children. A crumbling wall still shows where the
farmhouse stood, amid green pastures, just below the
place where men have broken the rule of the heather,
and by a beck which comes rushing down from the spa-
cious fells. A beautiful, wide-viewed country, yet with
an underlying sternness in it — fit home for this man of
a tender spirit, with a true love for all who walked honest-
ly, yet called to endure stripes and imprisonments, to
face unsympathetic judges and to be stripped of friends
and possessions.

HOWGILL'S EARLY LIFE

The purely personal facts of Howgill's life are soon told.
His birth occurred in 1618, the year after Raleigh was
executed, and two summers before the Pilgrim Fathers
set sail for New England. He learned the trade of a

1051423

6 FRANCIS HOW GILL

tailor, and presumably practised this, as well as fanning,
so successfully as to become practically independent
before the time when he embraced Quakerism. He was
twice married, the name of his first wife, who died about
1655, being Dorothy. Mary Howgill, who was im-
prisoned in Lancashire and Devonshire, and wrote letters
to Cromwell and others, and sometimes was an embarrass-
ment to the cause, was his sister. There were several
daughters, and two sons, Thomas and Henry, one of
whom was educated by Thomas Lawson.

SPIRITUAL WRESTLINGS

Howgill had to cross many wildernesses and fight his
way through great obstacles before coming into a know-
ledge of the Light, Christ Jesus. He states that from
the age of twelve years he set his heart to know that
God whom the world professed, that often he desired
to be alone, and attended much to reading and medita-
tion. All sports and pastimes seemed to be vanity,
lasting but for the moment. He read much, " prayed
in words " often three or four times a day, "yet knew
not where God was, but imagined a God at a distance,"
and " began to grow in knowledge without, which is
sensual." When about fifteen years old he posted up
and down after the most excellent sermons, and ran to
this man and the other for help, but found it not.
Fasting and " mournful walking in sorrow " followed.
It seemed to him that he was more grievously tempted
and tried than was any other man. He felt " tossed
about from mountain to hill " in the confusion of many
advices, so that " he ceased long by fits, and did not
mind what the preachers or teachers said, but kept still
at home and in the desert places, solitary and weeping."

CHANGING RELIGIOUS VIEWS 7

He had been in membership with the Episcopalians ;
indeed, it is probable that his university training was
with a view to his becoming a minister among them ;
now, dissatisfied, he joined himself to the Independents
and spent all the money he could obtain in purchasing
books. Finding, however, that what he had thought to
be the greater separation from the world of the Indepen-
dents was only in words, he left them for the Anabaptists,
who " appeared to have more glory and to walk more
according to the Scripture " ; but realising that they
deemed all save such as came into their way of worship-
ping the letter of Scripture to be out of the fellowship of
the saints and doctrine of Christ, he again became dis-
satisfied, although continuing to love those who walked
honestly among all these. Glimpses began to be obtained
of the one supreme Teacher, Jesus Christ, but the truths
thus opened to him were " caught up in the wisdom of
the flesh," with the result that as he travelled, preaching
against the ministry, he was " wondered after and
admired by those who had waded up and down as he
himself had, and we fed one another with words and
healed one another in deceit."

Howgill's further experience was of the same charac-
ter as that of George Fox : it was fully revealed to him
that " the Lord would teach His people Himself." But
his entering into the Light was not without anguish.

" The dreadful Day of the Lord fell upon me ; sorrow
and pain, fear and terror for the sight that I saw with mine
eyes. In the morning I wished it had been evening, and in
the evening I wished it had been morning, and I had no rest,
but trouble on every side. All that ever I had done was
judged and condemned, and all things were accursed."

It was thus that John Bunyan spoke, in Grace Abound-
ing, of his experience, but we find a gladder note here :

3 FRANCIS HOW GILL

" As I gave up all to the judgment, the captive came forth
out of prison, and rejoiced ; my heart was filled with joy ;
and I came to see Him whom I had pierced ; my heart was
broken. . . . Then I saw the cross of Christ, and
stood by it ; and the enmity was slain by it, the new man
was made, and eternal life was brought in through death
and judgment."

THE MEETING ON FIRBANK FELL

The developments in Howgill's spiritual experience,
just chronicled, took place during the memorable visit
of George Fox to Sedbergh Fair and Firbank Fell, in
1652. Fox was standing in the steeple-house yard at
Sedbergh, exhorting the people to come off from the
temple made with hands. Captain Ward, of Sunny
Bank, Grayrigg, interposed, " Why will you not go into
the church ? This is not a fit place to preach in."
Whereat Francis Howgill stood up and soon put to silence
the objector, saying, " This man speaks with authority
and not as the Scribes."

The next First-day, Fox set out from Draw-well,
beautifully situated below the Howgill Fells, with
his host John Blaikling, and climbed Firbank Fell, on
the summit of which a primitive " chapel " then stood.
Howgill was engaged in preaching as Fox passed the
door, and says that he thought that the stranger looked
into the room, at which his spirit was ready to fail, the
Lord's power did so surprise him. " He thought," wrote
Fox in his Journal, that " I looked into the chapel,
but I did not, and yet I might have killed him with a
crab-apple, the Lord's power had so surprised him."
The service soon ended, and the people — there were
about 1,000 there — picnicked upon the open fell. It
was then that John Blaikling came to ask his guest not
to reprove publicly Howgill and John Audland, " for

FOX'S THREE HOURS SERMON n

they were not parish teachers but pretty, tender men."
To which Fox replied that he could not tell then whether
he should do so or no. From a brook Fox got a drink,
and then mounted a great rock hard by the chapel, the
people gathering about him so soon as they had finished
their dinner. For the space of three hours, the youthful
and inspired preacher declared God's everlasting Truth,
in which the proposition that " the Light of Christ in
man was the way to Christ " had a prominent place,
and the Lord's concurring power accompanied his
ministry, so that a great number of people were con-
vinced, including all the leaders among the Seekers.

THE SEEKERS

In recording this fact we touch the vital point in the
rise of Quakerism in the North, and reach the most
important result of Francis HowgiU's acceptance of the
truth. The history of the part played by the Seekers
in George Fox's mission has been told by William
Charles Braithwaite in The Beginnings of Quakerism.
One of the most earnest of these groups of seeking people
had its headquarters at Preston Patrick, to which place
enthusiastic men and women came once a month from
Sedbergh, Yealand, Kellet, Kendal, Underbarrow, Gray-
rigg and Hutton. The chief leader of this community
was Thomas Taylor, but there were others, among whom
special mention is made of Francis Howgill, John Aud-
land and John Camm. For the most part these young
men were capable Bible students and keen seekers after
a deep spiritual experience, but Howgill says in A
Lamentation for the Scattered Tribes that they had
endeavoured to conform themselves to the practices of
the Primitive Church, and in so doing had become

FRANCIS HOW GILL

" ministers of the letter, and in their very conformity to the
first Apostles were departing from their ministry, for they
had been ministers of a living experience which they had
themselves tasted. By thus gathering men into a con-
formity to the letter and to that which was visible, they
were missing Christ, the substance, and teaching a religion
which was all at a distance, grounded on the report of
Christ dying at Jerusalem, and the belief in this report they
called faith. They boasted themselves in their ordinances,
the water and the bread and wine, which were but elemen-
tary and never anything but a sign, and in the day of ap-
pearance of Christ would melt with fervent heat."*

The convincement of these Westmorland Seekers at
once provided young, able and enthusiastic leaders of
the best type ; it also suggested some methods for
the holding of meetings, and gave indications of how
best to organise the growing bands of people. Howgill
thus describes the resulting warm fellowship of those
days :

" The Kingdom of Heaven did gather us, and catch us
all, as in a net, and His Heavenly power at one time drew
many hundreds to land, that we came to know a place to
stand in and what to wait in, and the Lord appeared daily
to us, to our astonishment, amazement and general admira-
tion, insomuch that we often said one to another, with
great joy of heart, ' What ? Is the Kingdom of God come
to be with men ? And will He take up His tabernacle
among the sons of men, as He did of old ? And what ?
Shall we, that were reckoned as the outcasts of Israel, have
this honour and glory communicated amongst us, which
were but men of small parts, and of little abilities in respect
of many others, as amongst men ? ' "

AT PRESTON PATRICK

Resuming our narrative, Howgill accompanied Fox
and Audland to Preston Patrick, where his new con-

* Quoted from The Beginnings of Quakerism, page 97.

AT PRESTON PATRICK 13

victions underwent somewhat of a trial at a meeting
in the chapel. Audland wanted Fox to go up into
the pulpit, but he preferred to sit near the door, and
there silently waited upon God for about half an hour.
" In which time of silence, Francis Howgill seemed
uneasy and pulled out his Bible and opened it, and
stood up several times, sitting down again and closing
his book, a dread and fear being upon him that he
durst not begin to preach." At last Fox rose, and
the whole meeting was held with power. In another
respect Howgill's simple obedience to the Truth was
unhesitating. Immediately after their convincement,
both he and Audland went to Colton, in Lancashire, and
restored to the people there the money which had been
given to them for preaching in the old " Monk's church,"
believing that that which had been freely received
should be freely given.

PERSECUTIONS

Immediately Howgill was convinced of the Truth as
proclaimed by Friends, he began that career of earnest
service in the Gospel ministry which only ended with
his death in 1668. One of the first places to be visited
was Orton, in Westmorland. With him was James
Nayler, another early Quaker missionary, who received
exceedingly rough treatment at the hands of the people
and priests, and was finally sent to Appleby Gaol
through Kirkby Stephen.* Howgill followed him to the

* The gaol at Appleby, in which Howgill and other Friends
were imprisoned, was probably the oratory of St. John the Baptist
(on the old bridge), turned into a prison. The Keep of the
Castle, "Caesar's Tower," is known to have been roofless from
1 5 59- * 65 1. What is said to be the lock of the prison in which
Howgill's last days were passed is in the possession of a north
country gentleman, (see Cover)

14 FRAXCIS HOWGILL

latter place, and, because he preached to the people
who had gathered in the street, was brought before the
Justices and accused of saying that all ministers that
taught for hire in steeple-houses were enemies and liars
against Jesus Christ. That night he was watched by
eight men, who spent the time in drinking, swearing,
and filthy talking, and next day was sent on to Appleby.
He and Nayler were kept in prison there for five
months, and then discharged. This trial is noteworthy,
not only as being the first in which Howgill figured, but
also for the fact that Anthony Pearson (one of the pre-
siding Justices) was convinced during Nayler's examina-
tion, and so turned into a defender of the Quakers he
had up to this time harried. Howgill was not left long
at liberty. Later on in the same year (1652) he was
arrested at Kendal, and again committed to prison at
Appleby. He must have been kept there for a con-
siderable time, as Margaret Fell* (wife of Judge Fell),
whose sympathy with, and practical support of the early
Friends have hardly yet been adequately acknowledged,
writing from Swarthmoor Hall, in 1653, addresses him
as being still a prisoner. Towards the end of this year
probably he was in Cumberland, shortly after George
Fox's visit to the " general meeting of thousands of
people, atop of a hill near Langlands." He found these
people " had no need for words, for they were sitting
under their teacher, Christ Jesus, in the sense whereof
he sat down amongst them, without speaking anything."

A NOBLE FRIENDSHIP

Another life now became bound up indissolubly with
that of Francis Howgill ; another man's great gifts,
both of preaching and organisation, were joined to his.
•See Margaret Fell: Friends Ancient and Modern, No. n

FIRST VISIT TO LONDON 15

Edward Burrough was one of the most remarkable men
who joined the cause. Obedience to the Truth cost him
his people's love at Underbarrow, and at eighteen years
of age he started life homeless and without money. He
had received a superior education, and could hold his
own in argument with most people, from king and
divine downwards. He was of an understanding mind
far beyond his years, and he had the deep love and
respect of all conditions of people. Both men felt the
call to service about the same time ; and their hearts
were knit together with a love passing the love of
women. Their gifts differed ; there were sixteen years
between them in age ; but what Jonathan was to David
and Cobden to Bright, Howgill was to Burrough.

FIRST VISIT TO LONDON

Early in 1654, the two friends, in company with
others, left their homes and journeyed to London, pro-
bably on foot. What a change for these men, from the
wide fells, and pure air and water of the north country,
to the rough pavements, close dark streets, open sewers
and robber-haunted corners of London ! The times
were big with momentous events, but there is little
hint of these in the writings of the early Friends.* For
instance, no glimpses are given in Howgill's pamphlets
of Cromwell's " crowning mercy," the Battle of Worces-
ter— of that dramatic act by which the Rump Parliament
was forcibly ejected in 1653 — of the nomination of the
new Council of State— of the Barebones Convention,

*In 1655, Burrough quotes Howgill as saying, "These things
are nothing to us ; we are redeemed from them, members of the
Lord for evermore, Who hath made us to reign above the world
and to trample upon it." See on the whole question,
Beginnings of Quakerism, ch. xvii.

16 FRANCIS HOW GILL

whose work included the setting-up of a fresh Council,
which formulated the instrument of Government under
which the memorable Parliament of 1654 was summoned.
Before this met, however, Cromwell had accepted, at
the Council's hands, the position of Protector (1653).
" They told me that, except I would undertake the
government, they thought they would hardly come to
a composure or settlement, but blood and confusion
would break in as before."

FACE TO FACE WITH CROMWELL

Yet, although mention of these events may be sought
for in vain in contemporary Quaker biography, Friends
themselves were not oblivious to their bearing upon
their own condition and prospects. Thus, moved by
the sufferings of their fellow believers in the City and
throughout the land, and perhaps encouraged by the
Instrument of Government (1653), Howgill and Camm,
and other north-country preachers, felt drawn to visit
the Protector, their object being to warn him, and to
represent the injustice being meted out to numerous
earnest men and women. The two visitors found Crom-
well in a rough coat " not worth 3/- a yard," and he at
once put himself in the wrong with them by " offering
money or anything they needed." During the interview,
the Protector affected to believe that Howgill and Camm
desired some form of religion to be established by law.
Both the visitors subsequently addressed letters to
Cromwell. In that of Howgill two main charges are
formulated : (i.) That the God who had exalted Crom-
well, " when he was little in his own eyes," was now
forsaken and His name not feared ; and (ii.) that in his
carnal will he had instituted many unrighteous laws

FACE TO FACE WITH CROMWELL 17

concerning religion, which laws were causing the

oppression of God's people.

" If thou take not away those laws which are made
concerning religion, whereby the people that are dear in
Mine eyes are oppressed, thou shalt not be established ;
but as thou hast trodden down thy enemies by thy power,
so shalt thou be trodden down by My power "

The nature of the oppression Howgill was declaring
against is shown in the following paragraph, and it is
evident that others than Quakers were also in his
mind :

" Are not many shut up in prison, and some stocked,
some stoned, and some shamefully entreated ? And some
are judged blasphemers by those who know not the Lord,
and by those laws which have been made by the will of
man and stand not in the will of God. And some suffer
now because they cannot hold up the types, and so deny
Christ come in the flesh ; and some have been shut up in
prison because they could not swear, and because they
abide in the doctrine of Christ ; and some, for declaring
against sin openty in markets, have suffered as evil doers."

There is a manly independence in the terms of the
letter, which is pleasing. In his interview, Howgill
" would not petition for anything ; " he would simply
declare what the Lord had revealed concerning Crom-
well ; and Sewel, the Quaker historian, states that, al-
though he could not learn whether he paid any heed to
it, it was creditably reported that some of his servants
were so reached by Howgill's discourse that shortly
after they entered into the society of the Quakers.
Howgill 's impressions of the Protector were duly con-
veyed to Margaret Fell : " He is full of subtlety and
deceit. He will speak fair, but he hardens his heart
and acts secretly underneath."

PIONEER WORK IN LONDON

This visit did not interrupt preparations for the
earnest mission in which the fellow-labourers now

1 8 FRANCIS HOW GILL

engaged. Howgill (then 33 years old) and Burrough (21)
were probably the first preachers of the doctrines of
Friends in London, although Gervase Benson had
already been labouring there, and the workings of the
Spirit had been felt by four women and some men who
had read an epistle of George Fox, addressed " To all
that would know the Way to the Kingdom, whether they
be in Forms, without Forms, or got above all Forms."
The houses of Simon Bring, in Watling Street, and
Robert Bring, in Moorfields, were the original meeting
places. These soon became too small, and the Bull
and Mouth Meeting House was selected, wherein to hold
those " threshing and ploughing " services, to which the
whole-hearted energies of the Friends just named and
their associates were devoted. A letter from Howgill
speaks triumphantly of the success of this early work :
" By the arm of the Lord all falls before us, according
to the word of the Lord before I came to this city, that
all should be as a plain."

Three distinct lines of service were engaged in :
Firstly, meetings for the " simple-hearted," " whole-
hearted " and " convinced " only, either held immedi-
ately after the more general gatherings or in addition
thereto, and frequently disturbed by the presence and
excesses of " Ranters," who were carefully denied and
declared against. On one occasion " George Fox's
voice and outward man were almost spent among
them," and frequently there were long disputations and
interruptions before the Spirit triumphed. Secondly,
there were the meetings for " threshing and ploughing "*

•" We have thus ordered it since we came : we get Friends on the
First-days to meet together in several places out of the rude
multitude, and we two go to the great meeting-place which we
have, which will hold a thousand people, which is always nearly
filled, there to thresh among the world."— H. and B. to M. Fell,
1655-

PIONEER WORK IN LONDON 19

among the world. These were the particular concern
of Howgill and Burrough, and were held three times a
week, in great power, large numbers of people attending.
Then, thirdly, there were meetings with the various sects,
such as the Baptists, Waiters, Seekers, High Notionists
and Anabaptists. Burrough and Camm were to the
front in this service, and, generally speaking, it met
with great acceptance. In one case, however, Richard
Hubberthorne,* an efficient helper, was expelled by the
Baptists and the door bolted against him, whilst Bur-
rough was prevented from speaking. Camm, Pearson
and Howgill specially visited a great meeting of a society
" who were translating the Scriptures anew and judging
them by their own reason." Here they were furnished
with wisdom and soon confounded their opponents.

About three months were taken up with these labours,
which were blessed with great success. The dark days
in their own spiritual experiences, the necessity they
had been under of solving their own doubts, the intimate
knowledge they possessed of the beliefs and practices of
many of the sects, all contributed to the power and
depth of their work in London ; and it is noteworthy
how, in some of the assemblies which seemed at first
most hostile to the preachers, prejudices were overcome
and Truth prevailed. On leaving London many of their
fellow-workers came to take .leave of them. " It was
a time of great brokenness of heart."

BRISTOL

The next field of work for the two friends, Bristol,
had been to some extent prepared for them by the
labours of Audland and Camm. The meetings were
attended by crowds of people, many of these " being
* ?>QQ Richard Hubberthorne : Friends Ancient and Modern, No. 16

20 FRANCIS HOW GILL

great men and women of the city." The Castle, " the
house of a captain," " a place called the fort," were in
turn the meeting-places. The people were so eager to
speak with the visitors that these were compelled to
take refuge, in a private house, and the magistrates,
being alarmed by the tumult and stirred up by the
priests, summoned Howgill and Burrough before the
Council. Here they stated why they had come, and,
being asked if they could work miracles, replied that
whilst they could not boast of it, many were ready to
witness that by their ministry they had been turned
from darkness to light, from Satan to God. The priests
then enquired whether they accused all the ministers in
England, to which they replied that there were many
ministers of Christ with whom they had unity, but all
hirelings and such as sought gain from their labour they
denied. The magistrates, finding nothing against the
men, commanded them to depart out of the city, but
they replied that they were free-born Englishmen, faith-
ful to the Commonwealth, and free in the presence of
God from the transgression of any law. " To your
commands we cannot be obedient, but if by violence
you put us out of the city, and have power to do it, we
cannot resist it."

During the last few weeks of their stay, they had
very large meetings (about three thousand people were
at one of these), and had the advantage of the help of
Camm and Audland. When at last they departed (in
their own time, it is hardly necessary to say), the
mayor published a warrant for their apprehension, if
found in the city, accusing them of being Franciscans
under the guise of Quakers !

BRISTOL 21

The nature of the work done is best, gathered from
the words used by Charles Marshall, of Bristol, in his
testimony to the labours of Camm and Audland :

" We received the gospel with a ready mind, and with
broken hearts and affected spirits, and gave up to follow the
Lord fully . . Oh ! the strippings of all needless ap-
parel, and the forsaking of superfluities in meats (and)
drinks : and in the plain self-denying path we walked,
having the fear and dread of God on our souls that we were
afraid of offending in word or deed. . . . Our meetings
were so large that we were forced to meet without doors and
that in frost and snow."

Later on in 1654, Howgill was present at disputings
in Ely and Cambridge (where James Parnell, the young
Quaker martyr, was then working), held a friendly
meeting with the family of Sir John Russell (who had
married Cromwell's daughter Frances), visited Norwich
and most of the market towns in Norfolk and Suffolk,
and tarried five weeks in Kent, where he was taken
severely ill of the ague. At any rate twice during this
period, London was re-visited, and it was noted that
divers of the people there were being moved to go forth
in the ministry. Sometimes twenty meetings were held
in one week, the interest was so great.

To this period must be ascribed a circumstance
recorded in The Beginnings of Quakerism as follows :
" Francis Howgill had felt himself led to take a lame
boy by the hand, and bid him, in the power of God that
raised Jesus from the dead, to stand up and walk. He
had written to Fox in much perplexity because the
attempted miracle had failed."

FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT : IRELAND

What was it that determined the choice of fields of
service in the minds of our early Friends ? — that led

22 FRANCIS HOW GILL

George Fox from Fenny Drayton into the dales of West
Yorkshire ? — that took Camm and Audland to Bristol,
Howgill and Burrough to London, and Richard Hubber-
thorne and George Whitehead into East Anglia ? This

Siestion finds an answer in the circumstances preceding
owgill's next religious visit, which was paid to Ireland
in 1655. He says that on the 7th day of the yth month,
he believed himself called to go to Ireland with Edward
Burrough, this intimation being accompanied by a
gracious promise of Divine power going with them and
opening out the way. Edward Burrough records that
he felt a similar impression on the 28th day of the 6th
month, to which he submitted on the 3oth of the same,
not knowing whether his " brother " should go with
him or not. He did go, after visiting Swarthmoor to
take counsel with Margaret Fell, and the two men spent
three weeks together in Dublin, finding the people
" proud, careless and dissolute," and then separated, to
work in different parts of the island. Burrough con-
tinued in the capital for some time, and then went to
Waterford, where he was tried as a vagabond and
examined as a Jesuit, which proceeding apparently
caused Bristol Friends to send a certificate setting forth
that he and Howgill were men of godly conversation,
always faithful to and active for the Commonwealth.
After five months' separation, the two men met at
Cork, where the priests' enmity was aroused, and even-
tually these got Howgill sent bound to Dublin, whence
he was re-sent to Cork, and from this place the friends
were banished by Henry Cromwell's orders. It is
possible that from these labours in and around Cork
there sprang influences affecting Admiral Penn's son,
William, founder of Pennsylvania,* who in that city
»See William Penn : Friends Ancient and Modern, No. 14

SCENE NEAR FRANCIS HOWGILL S HOUSE
From "Magdalen Duckett," by permission of Headley Brothers

HOWGILL'S GREAT RENUNCIATION 25

definitely first threw in his lot with the Friends. At
any rate, Howgill and Burrough were able to say : " In
short there is a precious work begun, and a seed sown,
which shall never die."

HOWGILL'S GREAT RENUNCIATION
During the five years between 1656 and 1661 (a period
full of import to England for it included the death of
the Protector, the succession of his son, Richard, and
the Restoration), Howgill was zealously engaged in
spreading the Truth. He was in the Midland counties
in 1656 ; in the following year in Scotland ; and in 1659,
in Durham, Yorkshire and Northumberland. Then he
went to London, and in 1660 reached Swarthmoor Hall.
He was at Grayrigg the following year, for from there
he wrote, to Margaret Fell, a letter referring to his
journey in Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire, in
which he said : " Let me tell thee I am no more weary
than the first day the sickle was put into the harvest."
One wonders whether, for part of this time, Howgill
was quietly living with his family at Todthorne, working
at his trade of a tailor, supervising the routine of his
little farm. Did he meet with other friends at Sunny
Bank, the hospitable house of Captain Ward ? Was he
seen walking down Bense Lane with his daughter Abigail,
telling her of that " son of thunder," yet " of consola-
tion " also, his true friend, Edward Burrough, whose
winged words, ardent spirit, and strong faith had carried
so many of the enemy's citadels ? Did he encourage
young Peter Moser in his refusal to pay tithes and
Easter reckonings ? Did he and Justice Duckett meet
before the battlemented walls of Grayrigg Hall, and
did Francis find the Squire as obdurate then as he was

26 FKAXCIS HOW GILL

to do a few years later ? None can tell. But we know
that about this time he entered into a deep personal
conflict. Strong as were his convictions about the
wearing of hats and the taking of oaths, hireling preach-
ers and tithes, these did not lessen the love of a husband
to his wife, a father to his children, a Westmorland
statesman to his land ; nor did they save him from
the natural dread of the separation and imprisonment,
which, he well knew, might follow. The most difficult
consideration of all to him was probably this : that
the penalty of obedience to the Truth meant forfeiture
of the opportunity which had come to him to take his
place among the reapers of the great harvest which he
felt himself engaged to gather in. How could he recon-
cile this guiding hand of God with the clear call which
he had received to preach the Gospel throughout the
length and breadth of the land ? Thus, probably, during
the little spell of sunshine at Grayrigg, which warmed
his heart and healed past wounds, did the tempter
speak. But there was no response from Francis How-
gill. He was absolutely true to his Guide, and as
immovable as the great fells upon which his eyes loved
to rest.

Charles II. had now come to the throne, with large
promises of religious toleration, never to be kept. And
the persecution for conscience sake, which soon burst
upon the land, fell most severely upon the Quakers.
Howgill clearly perceived the signs of the times, and
published several papers, in which he lovingly exhorted
Friends, with words of encouragement, to remain con-
stant to the Truth. By 1661, he had evidently removed
to London, for he was imprisoned there, with other
Friends, on a charge of being concerned in the Fifth
Monarchy rising.

EDWARD BURROUGHS DEATH 27

EDWARD BURROUGH'S DEATH

In 1662, Howgill had to sorrow for Edward Burrough,
struck down by gaol fever, in his twenty-eighth year.
" Beloved yoke-fellows," to use the older man's phrase,
they had always been, their hearts knit together in the
Divine love and service. Only the greatest elegy of
friendship ever written, that of David over Jonathan,
could express Howgill's love towards and sorrow over
his friend.

" Thou hast penetrated the hearts of many," he added ;
" Thou wast very dreadful to the enemies of the Lord, for
thou didst cut like a razor ; and yet to the seed of God
brought forth, thy words dropt like oil and thy lips as the
honeycomb. . . . His very strength was bended after
God."

A STRANGE PROPHECY AND ITS FULFILMENT
The next year (1663), Howgill was summoned from
Kendal market, " where he happened to be about his
ordinary occasions," to a tavern, to appear before the
Justices. They tendered to him the oath of allegiance
and supremacy, the which denying, he was committed
to Appleby Gaol, and kept in a smoky hole, from the
Sessions to the Assizes. Again the same oath was ten-
dered, and on refusing this, he was committed to the
next Assizes, but given a few days' liberty in order that
he might settle his outward affairs.

On one of these days Howgill went to Grayrigg Hall
(probably in company with John Dickinson, of Beck
Houses), and talked with Squire Duckett, who was
taking great delight in persecuting Friends. Finding
the Justice determined in his course, he pronounced
the following solemn words, " I am come with a message
from the Lord. Thou hast persecuted the Lord's people ;

•*8 FRANCIS HOW GILL

but His hand is now against thee, and He will send a
blast upon all that thou hast ; and thy name shall rot
out of the earth ; and this thy dwelling shall become
desolate, and an habitation for owls and jackdaws."
When this message had been delivered, the Justice
trembled and said, " Francis, are you in earnest ? "
To which Howgill replied, " Yes, I am in earnest ; it
is the word of the Lord to thee ; and there are many
now living who will see it."

The prediction was strangely and literally fulfilled.
This branch of the Duckett family, being of the Roman
Catholic faith, was dispossessed of some of its property
in 1677, under the same law which Justice Duckett had
often invoked for the harassment of the Quakers ; the
remainder being sold to the Lowthers in 1690. And it
is remarkable that the last of this line of the Ducketts
begged her bread at Grayrigg farmhouse doors. The
Hall was in total ruins in 1777, and now the zealous
antiquary can only trace a stone or two in the modern
farm buildings.

IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE

At the Appleby Assizes, in March, the judges wished
to acquit Howgill, but finding that he would not enter
into the required bond for good behaviour, and being
much pressed by Justices Musgrave and Fleming (the
same Fleming whose name was set upon the coffin of a
Lancaster Quaker, as causing his death), they remanded
him until the next Assizes, January to June of 1664,
none being suffered to speak to him meantime, and the
gaoler being a cruel man. " The Lord made him
[Howgill] without fear," however, " and girded his
heart with strength, and opened his mouth in wisdom,

IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE 29

so that he gained upon his adversaries." The first trial
took place in June of 1664, before Judge Turner. How-
gill's wife and friends did all they could on behalf of the
prisoner, who conducted his own case with ability and
learning. The old ground was gone over again. The
judge asked the prisoner why he refused to go to church,
and persisted in meeting in houses and private conven-
ticles ; why he would not be subject to the law and every
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, etc. ; but when
Howgill answered him in such clear fashion as to cause
his confusion, he always resorted to the convenient
statement that the prisoner would deny the oath, and
was therefore guilty in the sight of the law. Howgill
offered to subscribe to the oath, as embodied in a paper
he had drawn up, but all was of no avail, and the judge
pronounced sentence as follows :

" You are put out of the king's protection, and the benefit
of the law ; your lands are confiscated to the king during
your life, and your goods and chattels for ever ; and you
to be a prisoner during your life."

He was then asked if he would like to say anything.
" It is a hard sentence," he replied, " being only for the
exercise of my conscience, but the will of the Lord be
done." The Judge thereupon rose and said, " Well, if
you will yet be subject to the laws, the King will show
you mercy." With the simple response that the Lord
would have mercy upon him, and that he had done
nothing against the King, nor government, nor any man,
the prisoner turned from the bar — to go to his cell and
death.

BRIGHTNESS IN GLOOM

The imprisonment at Appleby lasted three years and
eleven months, but the fatal illness was of only ten days'

30 FRANCIS HOW GILL

duration. Howgill's wife and many friends came to see
him, and to these he addressed loving counsel. Appleby
Gaol was a severe test to a man who had all his life
gloried in bodily freedom, but Howgill came out of it
nobly. One of his last letters is addressed, " From
Appleby Gaol, the place of my rest, where the days and
hours are pleasant unto me " ; and often in the time of
his sickness, he was overheard praising God for " these
many sweet enjoyments and refreshments he had receiv-
ed on that his prison-house bed, whereon he lay, for-
giving all who had had a hand in his restraint." Richard
Finder, a Cumberland Friend, says that he never heard
him the least murmur or repine in all the time of his
imprisonment, but " he always appeared as a man
wholly given up unto the will of God." This is the
more noticeable in that the gaoler was at first extremely
offensive, and many of the people round about ' ' mad
and rude." The sufferer's last remembered words were :
" I have sought the way of the Lord from a child, and
lived innocently among men, and if any enquire concerning
my latter end, let them know that I die in the faith in which
I lived, and for which I suffered."

THE SAVOUR OF A TRUE LIFE

All who had access to him (even the gaoler, even-
tually) became his great friends, and the people of the
town got into the habit of referring to him their
differences for settlement. Persons of note (including
the Mayor of Appleby) were among his visitors, and
the service he performed in his cell was in no sense
secondary to that done during his religious visits. It is
probable that the latter portion of his confinement was
less close and rigorous than the former one. He died
in 1668, in the fiftieth year of his age, and his body was

SUNNY BANK, GRAYRIGG
From "Magdalen Duckett," by permission of Headley Brothers.

THE SAVOUR OF A TRUE LIFE 33

brought to Grayrigg for interment at Sunny Bank. At
his death all his outward affairs were found to be settled,
and evidences of his love to his fellow labourers were
shown in the bequests he made to several (by name),
and the legacy for distribution among the poor of the
household of faith in the parts where he had lived.

His solicitude for his wife and children, and the love
which they and their friends bore him, are best judged
of by a perusal of the Advice left to his daughter,
Abigail, and the Testimonies prefixed to his works.
In the former he says :

" Thy dear mother I rather commend thee unto, who
I trust will provide sufficiently for thee, unto whom my heart
hath been upright before the Lord : she had a sufficient por-
tion and dowry when I married her, which I shall be sorry
much to lessen or impair. . . . Learn in thy youth
to read and write a little, to sew and to knit, and all points
of good labour that belong to a maid ; and flee idleness and
sloth, that nourisheth sin, and as thou growest up in years
labour in the affairs of the country and beware of pride,
and riotousness and curiosity. ... If thou have a
desire to marry, do not thou seek a husband, but let a
husband seek thee. Let not thy affections out to every
one that proffers love, but be considerate, and above all
things choose one (if thou dost marry) that loves and fears
the Lord, whose conversation thou knowest, and manner
and course of life well, before thou gives consent."

In rough verse, which however contains some~merit,
he again dwells on these and other points :

"Bad company as deadly poison shun,

Bad company its thousands hath undone.

Beware of idleness, there's nothing worse,

Of vice the parent, and of man the curse.

Flee far from pride : high hills are barren found,

While lowly valleys with choice fruits abound.

The giddy multitude still go astray,

Leave thou the broad and choose the narrow way.

34 FRANCIS HOWGILL

Keep death and judgment ever in thine eye,

He's only fit to live who's fit to die.

The rules of temperance with strictness keep ;

Avoid offence in meat, in drink, or sleep.

No costly garments wear : let men admire

Thy person rather than thy rich attire.

If thou intend to change a single life,

And fill the station of a virtuous wife,

Let not thy choice be warped by worldlv gain,

Or comely form, — such motives are but vain.

When money makes the match, or aught impure.

Conjugal bliss is short or insecure."

A GREAT LEADER

The testimonies given forth after Francis Howgill's
death are numerous and long. Some strike the reader
as being slightly conventional, but live passages occur
in all, such as that which follows, by Ellis Hookes, the
Recording Clerk to the Society :

" He was a man of a meek and gentle spirit, and was very
careful and tender to all in whom the least appearance of
Truth manifested itself, and his travails and labours were
great for the Truth's sake, to beget people to the Lord, being
not satisfied to eat his bread alone."

It is important to recognise the power of leadership
possessed by Howgill and acknowledged in various ways
by his contemporaries. His force of character and spirit-
ual power greatly impressed others. As a business man,
he was made responsible for the collection of funds.
When the Kendal and London stocks were being de-
pleted by the growing work of 1655 to 1658, Howgill
joined with Margaret Fell and Edward Burrough in
establishing a general collection " for the service of
Truth." He was associated with George Fox in deciding
whether papers and books written by Friends should
be printed and circulated ; he advised in such troubles

A GREAT LEADER 35

as that which James Nayler brought upon the early
Quaker Church ; he was consulted in the first stages
of the development of the discipline of the Church ;
and, as we have seen, he proved himself an able and
untiring general in the forefront of the spiritual battle
waged by an enthusiastic and spirit-filled generation.
Brought up as a tradesman and a farmer, he had
in a remarkable degree the faculty possessed by the
prophet Amos of observing the signs of the times and
speaking to the conditions of those around him. Thus,
when in London in 1658 and 1659, he saw how the
Puritans had lost their fervency and zeal, and spoke of
England being like a dismasted hull, ready to be blown
with every gust of wind upon every rock. He further
diagnosed the symptoms of the time, and,with Burrough,
directed his energies to building up the waste places.
W. C. Braithwaite speaks of him as a heroic pioneer
of the New Movement, overcoming the buffetings of
opposers and persecutors by his invincible faith.

HOWGILL'S LITERARY WORKS

The works of Howgill are contained in a folio volume of
743 pages, not including title-page, thirteen pages of Testi-
monies, and a five-page table of the principal things to be found
in the book. " The Inheritance of Jacob Discovered after his
Return out of JEgypt " is the source from which the facts of
Howgill's early life are ascertained. Many of the tracts are
answers to papers published by opponents of Quakerism. One
of the most important of these is a counterblast to the Directory
for Publick Worship (1645). Its title begins, Mistery Babylon,
the Mother of Harlots Discovered, and, clause by clause, it examines
the doctrines contained in the Directory. An Epistle to Friends
in London (1658) has this postscript, " Let this be copied by any
that are free, and read in and among all Friends at meetings, as
is convenient, in and about the city." Other tracts are ad-
dressed to the people, the magistrates, and to all who have

36 FRANCIS HOW GILL

" believed in the Light," at places Howgill was specially interest-
ed in, as, for instance, Kendal, Cork, London ; and still others
to persons, among whom were Oliver Cromwell and " all the
princes of Germany." Most of the tracts are doctrinal and show
considerable learning and skill. In several the authorship is
shared with such friends as James Nayler, Edward Burrough,
George Whitehead and John Camm. The forms of signature
are various and possess no little interest. Those at the foot of
The Inheritance of Jacob and The Measuring Rod of the Lord
(where the title is almost a booklet in itself) are representative
specimens. From 1663 onwards many of the epistles (addressed,
of course, from Appleby Gaol) are written to fellow-sufferers in
different places, sometimes with the request that they be sent
on to prisoners in other towns. The Great Case of Tithes also
comes in this period, and Oaths no Gospel Ordinance.

The following paragraphs are given from Howgill's
epistles, as being helpful to the understanding of his
spirit and message.

LOOK NOT BACK

You whose hearts God hath touched, and who are
entered into the way, look not back at any glory left behind ;
but freely give up all, and press on in the straight way, through
the death of the enmity upon the cross. . . . And look
not back at hardships, nor at the multitude of temptations, but
mind the Light ; which is the whole armour of God, whereby you
will receive strength to overcome all your enemies, and the
Covenant of God will be established with you, in which you will
receive the blessing in all things, and will know how to use all
things to the glory of God, seeing His pure presence in all His
blessings. Stand always in the cross to the carnal, and so your
understandings will be kept open and clear, to receive the pure
teachings of the Father ; and His wisdom from above will grow
in you ; and the wisdom of the earthly will die. And if you
abide in the Light, which is from the beginning, you need no
man to teach you ; but by the anointing which you will receive,
you will be taught all things in the way of God perfectly ; and
so stand witnesses for the Lord, and against all the world and
its deceits.

[To Friends in Ireland, 1655.]

THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY 37

THE TRUE ABIDING PLACE

All abide in the Cross, that the nature out of which the lusts
and the war arise against the Lord, and against your souls, may
wither, die, and be worn out ; and so you will see more rest
and peace in and with the Lord ; and He that hath begun will
finish.

Friends, above all things keep low ; and none judge of your-
selves, nor think of yourselves above what is meet : take heed
of conceitedness, and pride, and exaltation, and presumption,
and of gainsaying, and resisting them who have laboured amongst
you in word and doctrine ; whose example you have daily as
a pattern before you. Let there be no boasting, nor contentions,
nor strife, nor emulation, nor surmising ; but in singleness of
heart, all bear and forbear one another ; and let the same mind
be in you as was in Christ Jesus ; and so peace will be in your dwel-
lings, and rest and prosperity in your habitations ; and plenty,
and riches from above of the heavenly wisdom will be multiplied
injyour meetings ; and the pure presence of God and His power
will compass you about, who are of an upright heart to the Lord.

[To Friends in London.']

THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY

Therefore, all children of the day, put on the armour of Light,
and have your feet shod now when we walk through thorny
places, and be not fearful or doubtful, but of believing hearts ;
stand not aloof and idle when others are engaged in the spiritual
war ; pull not your necks out of the yoke when others draw ;
shelter not yourselves when you see others in jeopardy ; love
not the world when you see others have thrown it off ; be not
entangled in cumbersome things when you see others throw off
all weights ; turn not your backs in the day of controversy ;
but follow the Lamb.

God's enemies are resolved to do wickedly ; be ye also resolved
to do your duty. They seek by any means to make any fall
from their principles and stedfastness : do you seek to escape
their snares, and to be kept clear in your consciences before God.
Be valiant for the Truth ; sell it not, but sell all for it that it
may be your all ; and then you shall see your lot is fallen in a
good place, and that your possession is pleasant.

38 FRANCIS HOWGILL

Seek not every one your own profit, ease, life, and liberty
only ; but everyone another's good ; and mind not only one
member but the whole body. Heed not them that draw back ;
they are no precedent for you to follow ; but those that press
forward, and are not offended in the time of hardship, are your
precedent. Heed not them that will tell you that they can
keep their hearts upright to God, and retain their love to truth
and friends, and yet will not afford their presence in your as-
semblies, but escape suffering, and deny the cross, and neglect
their present duty ; for that is deceit ; and their own hearts
will deceive them.

Be conformable to none that go about, under pretence of
love, to persuade or counsel you from your duty to God ;
neither submit to them that would betray you of your peace.
Heed not the frowns of corrupt men, nor the counsel of them
who mind their own pleasure, ease, profit, and earthly things ;
let not natural affections and love, either to lands, wife, or
children, blind your eyes ; but love them, and receive them
in the Lord, and enjoy them as though they hindered not.
Stand loose from all things, and out of entanglements, and cast
your care upon the Lord, who careth for the fatherless and the
widow, and them that have no helper in the earth.

[A General Epistle to the Called of God.]

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